Global recognition for health care simulation lab

Monday, 13 May 2019

Adelaide Health Simulation, a facility which replicates hospital suites with cutting-edge technology including life-like mannikins, has been awarded unconditional accreditation for its major investment in learning and teaching.

The University of Adelaide’s simulation facility, which educates students of the health professions to handle real-world clinical scenarios, is the only facility in Australia to currently hold accreditation from the Society for Simulation in Healthcare.

The facility recreates hospital suites with cutting-edge technology such as resuscitation, neonatal and anaesthetic equipment that enable medical and nursing students, along with health and medical sciences students, to gain hands-on experience as part of their education.

High-fidelity mannikins, which exhibit all the signs and responses of real people, simulate patients from the entire life-span – from infants to geriatrics. Actors are also employed as standardised patients, made up with realistic injuries and trained to exhibit realistic symptoms.

“Adelaide Health Simulation, which is located in the heart of the BioMed City and the University’s North Terrace campus, delivers world-class inter-professional learning for future health professionals,” says the University of Adelaide’s Adam Montagu, Director, Adelaide Health Simulation.

“The simulation centre contributes to high quality, safe patient healthcare by providing excellence in both simulation and clinical skills teaching.”

Accreditation of Adelaide Health Simulation, which runs for five years, acknowledges the outstanding team of experts who provide a safe, quality learning environment for students, a state-of-the-art physical space, a well-established interprofessional learning program and investment in virtual and augmented reality.

“Whilst I was on rural placement, myself and another colleague experienced our first resuscitation. What could have been a scary and overwhelming experience was an incredibly moving learning opportunity due to the years of simulation training which helped prepare us,” says Catalina Moraga Masson, who is studying Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery at the University of Adelaide.

“When I first walked into the University of Adelaide simulation suites I was absolutely blown away with how realistic and intricate the hospital settings looked. Learning with the best possible replication of the real-life scenario, has made me so much for confident for real life nursing practice,” says Bachelor of Nursing student, Holly Frost.

“Accreditation for Adelaide Health Simulation, by the Society of Simulation in Healthcare, recognises the first-class training that students receive when they are exposed to real-world medical situations, in a safe environment, in which they have to make decisions that directly affect patient outcomes,” says Mr Montagu.

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